


Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince

by tophsgf



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, F/M, Rina - Freeform, Rina Week 2020 (HSM: The Series), gina & big red bffs, ricky bowen loves gina porter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24140713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tophsgf/pseuds/tophsgf
Summary: Ricky stares at her lips as he tells her that he and Nini drifted apart, that her surprising him by coming for the spring musical was the final nail in the coffin which held their relationship, already practically six feet underground. Gina tries not to think of the specifics, of what could have driven them apart. It’s best not to wonder about these things, in fact, it’s best to pretend everything is how it’s always been. What was it that Ricky said the day she came back? That he was back to the person he was before her.Pre-Gina. Post-Gina. Like she’s a storm. A temporary and useless one, but a storm nonetheless.
Relationships: Big Red & Gina Porter, Gina Porter & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen & Gina Porter, Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince

**Author's Note:**

> it's rina weeeeeeek!!!!!!!!! i love this pairing if you'd ever like to talk to me hit me up on twitter!!!!!! (SC0RSESE)

Nini Salazar-Roberts and Ricky Bowen break up in May. In front of the entire theatre department, backstage after the second performance of _Beauty and the Beast_. 

Red says it was a long time coming, Gina doesn’t quite know what to think. 

Ricky stares at her lips as he tells her that he and Nini drifted apart, that her surprising him by coming for the spring musical was the final nail in the coffin which held their relationship, already practically six feet underground. Gina tries not to think of the specifics, of what could have driven them apart. It’s best not to wonder about these things, in fact, it’s best to pretend everything is how it’s always been. What was it that Ricky said the day she came back? That he was back to the person he was _before her_. 

Pre-Gina. Post-Gina. Like she’s a storm. A temporary and useless one, but a storm nonetheless. 

Red becomes her friend. They both watched from the sidelines as Ricky and Nini's relationship disintegrated, it seems only fitting that they’re now bonded together. He’s surprisingly insightful, probably because his friendship with Ricky has always forced him to be the observer rather than a participant. Sometimes the best thing you can do for someone is just to take a step back and let them shine. They both know a lot about that. Maybe it’s the reason they understand each other. 

In her life, there are specific memories that she’ll never escape. 

Certain ones always come to mind first. The last time she saw her father, in the third grade when he went to work and he never came back. Car accident. The last fight he had with her mother was over the house. She wanted to move, he said roots were important, that their children needed stability. Clearly, her mother didn’t take that to heart.

When her brother, Theo, moved away. When he graduated high school, packed a bag, and never looked back. When he stopped replying to her texts with more than a sentence. Gina was in seventh grade by then, wise enough to know he was doing what she couldn’t. He got out. 

The temporary nature of her life was supposed to be a blessing in disguise. A way to ensure she’d never have another one of these moments. Clearly, that didn’t turn out to be true. Because there’s another moment that sticks in her mind, when she’s finished lamenting over every other stupid memory she can’t banish from her head.

The way Ricky looked at her after homecoming, after he saw her for all she was, not just the perfection she wanted him to see. The warmth in his eyes, the way he watched her walk up to her front door. The way things were different after that, for a while. Like she’d found a way to stay steady, let herself not be so alone. Gina does not look for her value in other people, one of the many differences between her and Nini, but it was nice to be somewhere that felt like more than just a brief stop on her way to something.

Normally, Gina can count her good days in any town her mother drags her to on one hand. The number of events she’s been invited to, people who care about her existence. With Salt Lake, she was getting close to six days. Six days of actual happiness. Of Ricky Bowen looking at her like he’s captivated.

Of course, she only makes it to four and a half days. Of course, she humiliates herself in front of everyone in the musical. Of course, immediately after reconciling with Nini, she’s reminded why she kept her distance in the first place. Of course, Nini laughs as Gina’s stability slips from her fingers, after every little thing with even the tiniest bit of goodness is crumbling right in front of her and, like always, she is completely fucking powerless to stop it. Of course, Gina breaks when she walks out the door and Ricky doesn’t come after her. It’s childish and stupid and emotional to hope for some sort of fairytale moment. 

After that, there isn’t anything left to say. 

The tide took her away from East High. And then it brought her right back, to a school smoothed over in her absence. Like she had never been there at all.

Now things are different. At least Gina tries to believe they are. She eats lunch with Kourtney, studies with Red. Ignores the urge to run to Ricky in some dramatic fashion. Nini comes to visit some weekends, wearing floral patterns and a smile that always seems to falter when they make eye contact. Gina pretends that it doesn’t sting, but Red always seems to notice her flinch. 

“Hey,” he nudges her on another one of those days, where the rest of the theatre kids gather around Nini, who is practically beaming, “you okay?”

“Not really,” she says, relishing in the way it feels not to always bury things down. She and Red are honest with each other, probably because they conceal themselves with everyone else. Big Red’s the sidekick, she’s the outsider. A perfect combination of self-loathing and memories neither of them like to think about. Their foundation isn’t steady enough to withstand any storm but Ricky Bowen. 

“It’s not your fault,” Red says quietly, nodding towards the group which has long forgotten them. “She’s just looking for someone to blame. You’re sort of the perfect scapegoat for why she and her supposed ‘soulmate,’” he makes air quotes, “didn’t have their fairytale ending.”

“How?” It’s pathetic how quiet her voice has become, pathetic that Ricky has such a hold on her. 

Red’s eyes widen, an almost cartoonish expression compared to his usual demeanour. “Gina, you don’t just forget that your boyfriend said another girl’s name when he told you he loved you.”

“What?” Gina whispers, and she can see Red slowly coming to the realization that she didn’t know. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Um. I thought he told you. Clearly he did not. Which is characteristic of him. Okay.” Red looks at her, brow furrowed, “Here’s what happened. Pretend I’m Ricky.”

Gina’s heart is beating too fast for her to do anything but nod.

“Oh, hey girlfriend Nini! What’s that? Oh, you love me? And we’ve said this to each other before and I definitely wasn’t just saying something because you’re the safest option for me and also it was after the show and I was wearing a black denim button-up and no self-respecting person would want to date me with my sense of style but that has nothing to do with this current imaginary conversation?” 

Gina stifles a laugh in spite of herself. Red’s somewhat of a loose cannon when it comes to Ricky and Nini. Probably has something to do with the innate ginger spite. Or him constantly having been his best friend’s third wheel.

“Oh, I love you too, Gina! I mean… Nini. My girlfriend who I love. And whose name I definitely thought of first when I thought about love. Who’s Gina?” Red looks at her after that last bit, shrugging. “He’s a dumbass. And Nini can be a bit of a dick. But she doesn’t mean to be. Mostly. I think.”

Gina must look completely doubtful of that because Red sighs and shakes his head. “She’s kind of obsessed with the idea of happily ever after. Has been the whole time I’ve known her, and I’ve known her a long time. She’ll get over Ricky. Or maybe she won’t, maybe she’ll date someone like EJ, who thought she was so brilliant that he ignored how not over Ricky she was.”

“You still sound fond of her.” Gina doesn’t know why she said 'fond'. It makes her sound like she’s in a period drama. Whatever.

“I am,” Red groans, looking over at Nini, who has now opened up her phone to show pictures of her fancy new theatre school. “If she was Fiona to Ricky’s Shrek, I was Donkey. The sidekick. Comic relief. She’s a good person. She just gets caught up in romance and safety and convenience.” 

_Romance. Safety. Convenience._ Three things Gina has never really had.

That’s the last time they talk about Nini, in that way, at least. After that, Nini stops coming around as often. Kourtney says it’s because she’s preparing for a showcase at YAC, but no one really believes that. Consequently, it’s pretty clear Kourtney is fed up with being the messenger because she stops mentioning Nini altogether. 

Ricky doesn’t talk to Gina much anymore. She wants to believe it’s an accident, that he’s drifting away without realizing it, but she’s never been one to pretend. She hasn’t known Ricky long enough to make that much of an impression on him. It’s just the truth. Sooner or later she’ll have to accept it. They haven’t really spoken in months and she isn’t surprised. Isn’t surprised that when they do actually make eye contact in the halls, it’s tragically fleeting. Where a sentiment neither will ever echo passes between them. It’s a whisper, a silent truth they both know. The walls she's so carefully built were destined to fall. If not for him, then for someone else.

Ricky Bowen just happened to be the one to reveal the cracks in Gina Porter’s foundation. Because she’s always been broken.

Gina tries not to think of Ricky. And it almost works, until one day in July when the Caswells are away and she’s still at their home, her home now, honestly. They offered for her to come along on their brief camping trip, but she refused. 

Knows she can only be so much of a burden before they get sick of her. 

On that hot day in July, when even the neighbourhood kids are inside because the pavement is so hot, Ricky Bowen throws her world off its axis. It’s becoming a recurring theme with him. Gina probably should have realized. Seems like everyone else has.

When she opens the door to Ricky Bowen with a red eye that’s clearly the beginning of a bruise and a cut on his nose, her heart drops. Because Ricky Bowen is at her door. Not Red’s, not Nini’s. Hers. 

“Hi.” His voice is soft, cautious. Gina has never seen Ricky this cautious before. “Can I come in?”

“Ashlyn’s not here.” She has to make sure. _That he’s here for her._

“I know.” Ricky says, shifting from foot to foot, which Gina knows he does when he’s nervous. 

He sits on the Caswells’ kitchen counter as she dabs at his eye, wincing when the cold cloth makes contact.

“You’re a good doctor.” He’s watching her, they're close enough that she can see little flecks of gold in his eyes. He’s captivating. Gina hates him for it. 

“Well, I’ve had practice.” 

“Practice?”

“My brother played hockey.” She isn’t used to talking about Theo, not even with Red. “Used to come home all beaten up. My mom was always busy so…” She trailed off, pressing the cloth to Ricky’s eye.

“You took care of him?” The emotion in Ricky’s voice is something akin to awe, and she doesn’t understand that. Why he would be in awe of her.

“I guess.” She mutters, resists the urge to shake her head. Praise is nice, just not from Ricky. It never feels deserved. “Helped me figure out how the world worked.”

“How?”

“I guess.. I don’t know. I guess I learned that people won’t always be there when you need them. Sometimes you can’t change that. What happened, Ricky?” She wants to ask why he’s here so badly. But she’s not strong enough for what the answer will likely be. _Everyone else was busy._

“I fell. I was skating, I got distracted.” Gina doesn’t point out that he doesn’t have his skateboard or helmet. Not her place. “And…” Ricky’s quiet for a second, doesn’t flinch when Gina’s fingers graze the cut on his nose. “I wanted to see you.”

“You wanted to see me,” Gina echoes, unbelieving. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yeah,” Ricky has pushed himself back on the counter, just out of her reach. Lucky him. “Is that so unbelievable?

“What’s unbelievable is that you barely talked to me when we were literally in the same building every day, but now you’re suddenly begging to be in my presence? You honour me, Ricky, really.” Ricky doesn’t actually look offended. He just looks sort of sad. Which is somehow worse. “Come on, dude.”

“What do you want me to say?” To be honest, Gina doesn’t really know. “I miss you. And my face hurts.”

“Why did you stop talking to me?” Gina hates that she’s giving away her high ground, hates that she’s still letting Ricky sit in her kitchen looking at her like that, like she’s special to him. She isn’t. And she refuses to be another girl who serves only as a replacement for Nini.

“I don’t know,” Ricky says, and Gina admires his honesty, however vague it is. “I guess I thought I was doing you a favour.”

“In what world is ignoring me doing me a favour?” She doesn’t know why she asked. Because she knows. Because she’s done it a million times to a million different people who didn’t deserve it. Saved them the cost of knowing her.

“I don’t know if you’ve realized,” Ricky gestures at his face, which looks slightly better now that Gina has dabbed away some of the injury. “But I’m kind of a mess.”

It’s sad. That Ricky Bowen thinks of himself as an unmanageable mess. Because Gina can’t think of one person she knows who isn’t a mess, besides maybe Carlos, who is too self aware for his own good. 

Gina must have taken too long to respond because Ricky’s looking at her with something akin to hurt clouding his soft features. “Yeah,” he whispers, as if everything between them has suddenly changed, “that’s what I thought.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Gina would be surprised at her own boldness, but somehow she isn’t. Maybe it’s the heat. “You don’t need to protect me, Ricky. I’m not exactly unfamiliar to having my heart broken.”

“What?” Ricky’s voice is thin, like he’s bracing himself for some sort of insult. Gina can not fathom why he’d think that. Probably prior experience. Vulnerability? Neither of their strong suits. 

“You’re a storm, man.” It feels bizarre to actually voice the metaphor she has kept so carefully in her mind, “but so is everyone else. So am I, so is Red.”

“....Okay?”

“You can’t be a dick to prevent a future situation in which you might be a dick. That doesn’t really work.” God, even anxious, Ricky is so beautiful. Like he’s made of marble, statuesque. “You’re also not very good at it, clearly. Because here you are.”

“Here I am,” Ricky echoes, his eyes falling to her lips. He doesn’t move. “Gina?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?”


End file.
